Wisconsin Dells, WI
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Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Kilbourn City |
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| City | |
Downtown Wisconsin Dells looking west
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| Nickname(s): The Dells | |
 Location of Wisconsin Dells in the state of Wisconsin |
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| Coordinates: 43°37′39″N 89°46′15″W / 43.62750°N 89.77083°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| Counties | Columbia, Sauk, Adams, Juneau |
| Founded | 1857 |
| Renamed | 1931 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–council |
| • Mayor | Brian L. Landers |
| Area | |
| • Total | 7.73 sq mi (20.02 km2) |
| • Land | 7.36 sq mi (19.06 km2) |
| • Water | 0.37 sq mi (0.96 km2) |
| Elevation | 909 ft (277 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 2,678 |
| • Estimate (2012) | 2,701 |
| • Density | 363.9/sq mi (140.5/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | Central (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 53965 |
| Area code(s) | 608 |
| FIPS code | 55-88150 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1576900 |
| Website | www |
Coordinates: 43°38′15″N 89°46′44″W / 43.6374°N 89.7788°W
Wisconsin Dells is a city in south-central Wisconsin, with a population of 2,678 people as of the 2010 census. It straddles four counties: Adams, Columbia, Juneau, and Sauk. The city takes its name from the Dells of the Wisconsin River, a scenic, glacially formed gorge that features striking sandstone formations along the banks of the Wisconsin River. Together with the nearby village of Lake Delton, the city forms an area known as "the Dells", a popular Midwestern tourist destination.
Early French explorers named the Dells of the Wisconsin River as , a rapids or narrows on a river in voyageur French.
Wisconsin Dells was founded as Kilbourn City in 1857 by Byron Kilbourn, who also founded Kilbourntown, one of the three original towns at the confluence of the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic Rivers that joined to become Milwaukee. Before the establishment of Kilbourn City, the region around the dells of the Wisconsin River was primarily a lumbering area until 1851, when the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad was chartered, with Kilbourn as its president. The railroad made plans to bridge the Wisconsin River near the river's dells, and a boomtown named Newport sprang up at the expected site of the bridge in 1853. The population of this new city quickly swelled to over 2,000, but when the railroad finally came through the area in 1857 it took nearly everyone by surprise by crossing the river a mile upstream from the site of Newport. As a result, Newport was rapidly turned into a ghost town as the settlers flocked to the new city at the site of the railroad bridge, Kilbourn City. The land at the point of crossing was originally owned by Parley Eaton. Byron Kilbourn bought the land from Eaton for a reduced price as everyone expected the railroad to cross at Newport. However, Kilbourn then went to Madison and lobbied the state to allow for the railroad right-of-way to be moved to cross at the point where he owned the land and greatly increased its value. Gradually, tourism became a large part of Kilbourn City. To make it easier for tourists to identify Kilbourn City with the natural landscape for which it was famous, the name of the city was changed to Wisconsin Dells in 1931. As the twentieth century progressed, new attractions began to draw even more tourists.
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Wikipedia